To Recognize or not – the Policy of the United States toward Croatia, 1990-1991

Abstract

Autorica je na temelju izvora i literature istražila pitanje odnosa Sjedinjenih Američkih Država prema ratu u Hrvatskoj, napose sa stajališta njezina priznanja kao neovisne države u razdoblju od početaka procesa osamostaljenja 1990. do 1992. Smatra da se američki predsjednik George Bush, unatoč njegovu javnom zauzimanju za novi svjetski poredak, prema stanju u istočnoj Europi odnosio iznimno konzervativno te je želio održati Sovjetski Savez i socijalističku Jugoslaviju kao da je stabilnost svijeta ovisila o njihovu opstanku. Autorica naglašava da je Bush smatrao da ratom u bivšoj Jugoslaviji nije ugrožen niti jedan ključni interes Amerike, koja je, osim toga, 1991. bila zaokupljena događajima u Kuvajtu i Sovjetskom Savezu. Na američko stajalište utjecala je i iskrivljena percepcija događaja iz Drugoga svjetskog rata, a što je koristila srpska promidžba koja je u daljnjem zamagljivanju stvarnosti optuživala hrvatskog predsjednika Tuđmana za antisemitizam. Osim toga, Srbi su u svom promidžbenom djelovanju neprestano upozoravali na ugroženost srpske zajednice u Hrvatskoj. Autorica zaključuje da je Busheva administracija bila nesposobna pravodobno odgovoriti na stanje u bivšoj Jugoslaviji pokazujući nezainteresiranost za stradanja u području koje je smatrano nevažnim za američke interese.The author examined the question of the attitude of the US to the war in Croatia, especially from the point of view of whether to recognize it as an independent state during the period from the beginning of the move to independence in 1990 until 1992. She considers that American President George Bush, despite his public support for a new world order, assumed a very conservative attitude toward the situation in Eastern Europe, inclining toward the preservation of the Soviet Union and Socialist Yugoslavia as if international stability depended on their continuation. In declining from recognizing Croatia, Bush was not in step with the European Union, as he at the time claimed he was, but was rather in opposition to it. The author stresses that the war in Yugoslavia did not affect any vital American interest, which was at the time instead focused on the events in Kuwait and the Soviet Union. The attitude toward Croatia was also influenced by a distorted perception of the events of World War Two as utilized in Serbian propaganda, which continued to distort reality and accused Croatian President Tuđman of anti-Semitism. As well, Serbian propaganda continually warned of the endangered condition of the Serb minority in Croatia. The author concludes that the Bush administration proved incompetent by not reacting in time to the situation in war-torn former Yugoslavia, ignoring the speeches and resolutions of the Senate and House of Congress, and displaying a lack of interest in the plight of people in a region considered unimportant to American interests